I had a perfectly running QNAP system with very minimalist setup, and choosing to “Remove” the Helpdesk app, broke my system boot up. The system boots but the web UI is inaccessible.
I found that if I manually add a symlink via SSH I can regain access to the web UI, but that fix doesn’t survive a reboot, and I can’t be sure that nothing else is broken. Reinstalling the Helpdesk app (3.3.5) doesn’t help.
Choosing to “Remove” Helpdesk shouldn’t do this. Yes, it warns that I may lose user settings, but I understand those relate to the Helpdesk app which I don’t need, so was fine with hitting “OK” to that. If Helpdesk trashes the system, then “Remove” should not be an option.
My system: New TS-873A with 8 disks (on compatibility list). 2x NVMe SSD cache (Micron enterprise SSDs with latest firmware). QTS firmware version 5.2.8.3359. Very basic setup. Two apps installed: Nakivo Transporter, and LEgo 4.31.0.0. I removed Helpdesk via “Remove” option in the AppCenter.
BTW: The symlink I added to regain web UI access is “ln -s CACHEDEV1_DATA/homes homes” run from /share.
Please shed some light on why removing Helpdesk breaks the system.
Because if you ever need help and a service ticket (and you WILL - trust me), you need the HelpDesk app. You don’t have to have it running but it is an essential part of QNAP being able to support your system.
You have no idea what I do and don’t need. I have been using Linux since the first versions of Yggdrasil and Slackware. I haven’t needed it ever before and I have run QNAP systems for decades. If I ever logged a ticket I was interested enough in spending time on AND I needed Helpdesk, then you’d think there would be a way to re-install it but my point stands - removing it shouldn’t break the system if they give you the option to remove it. I won’t remove it in future - not because I need it - but because I want a functioning system.
UPDATE: I did a settings reset in Backup/Restore of the Control Panel, and after putting all my settings back, and apps, I was up and working again. As I went through the settings I remembered that under Privilege / Users / Advanced Settings / Home Folder, there is a checkbox to enable that. My guess is that uninstalling Helpdesk unticked that option. This would break my HTTPS access, as my web certificates are in a subdirectory of admin’s home dir, for use with my Let’s Encrypt certs.
So if you found this using a Google search, make sure that option is enabled.